THE EU is expected to demand Britain carries on contributing to their gilt-edged pension pots to the tune of a staggering £9.5 billion, even after the UK leaves the bloc, it has been claimed.

The EU could try to make the UK continue contributing to its pension pot even after Brexit

In the ongoing battle EU mandarins are expected to make the UK cough up for their pensions as part of the so-called Brexit bill - the amount of money being demanded by Brussels bureaucrats for what the bloc sees as the UK’s outstanding financial contributions due to long-standing commitments.

And European Commission figures suggest Britain could be expected to foot the bill for EU pensions.

Based on European Commission figures and assuming the UK is liable for a 13 per cent share, the UK is likely to be asked to pay just over £9.5bn (€10.8bn), according to estimates seen by the Financial Times.

The sum could be included in any transition period deal that could be struck between the bloc and Britain as EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier pushes for a settlement over any payment with talks seemingly stalling over the divorce bill and future trade talks.

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The current bill for the EU’s pension fund is a staggering £54.6bn, which covers pensions as well as private health insurance, according to reports.

That total works out at an average of £59,000 per EU official — more than twice the average UK salary.

The average income for a retired household in the UK was £21,800 at the end of last year.

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Any agreement by Prime Minister Theresa May to agree to contribute to the EU pension fund is likely to be highly controversial with Brexiteers who want a clean break the from bloc and spark further divisions over the Government’s Brexit strategy.

There are around 22,000 retired EU officials who are currently benefitting from the pension scheme and around 1,730 of those are British.

While EU pensions are viewed as being very generous, analysts have also indicated there has been a growing shortfall due to the way it is funded.

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Although most conventional pension plans operate a fund with contributions being paid into it the EU’s system runs along a ‘pay as you go’ structure, with payments taken out of the EU’s annual budget.

Jayne Adye, Director of cross-party Eurosceptic group Get Britain Out commented: “It is frankly ridiculous the EU is demanding the UK pay the pensions of Eurocrats after Brexit - to the tune of €10.8bn. This amount is so large because the EU pays vast pensions to greedy Europhiles like Lord Kinnock and Lord Mandelson, who receive £90,000 and £35,000 respectively per annum.

“The UK has been a net contributor to the European project ever since we joined. We’ve already handed over close to half a trillion Pounds during our membership. The fact the EU has been demanding an extortionate Divorce Bill at all is audacious, let alone attempting to keep us on the hook indefinitely for the pensions of these ‘fat cat’ Eurocrats.

“The EU can pay the pensions of its own staff once the UK Leaves. If it needs to save money it should stop wasting such copious amounts on vanity projects such as the recently built EU headquarters the ‘Space Egg’ – which cost an incredible €321m.”

The revelation comes as Mrs May’s administration put on a show of unity as the Prime Minister prepares to deliver a keynote Brexit speech tomorrow in Florence, Italy.

Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke told Sky News: “The PM has the backing of all of us.”

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Lord Mandelson benefits from an EU pension

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Lord Kinnock has a pension from the EU due to his time as a Vice President of the European Commissio

The speech is eagerly anticipated as talks with Brussels appear to have stalled recently and divisions within the Conservative party have been exposed over Britain's Brexit strategy.

Mrs May is widely expected to offer the EU an estimated £17.6bn as part of a Brexit bill deal, far short of some analysts who say the EU wants around £88.3bn (€100n).

However any progress made in the talks is likely to hit a stumbling block should the EU start to demand Britain’s ongoing pensions contributions as part of any transitional deal.

Mrs May said earlier this week during her visit to New York that EU payments would not carry on “year on year on year.”